CCBA News

» 26 February 2009

There is much to report on:

On September 10, 2009, Scott McMillen will gavel to order the 2009 Conference of Delegates. This year's Conference will mark our 75th Anniversary, and we hope you will join us for our Diamond celebration.

San Diego 2009

Since 2002, the Conference of California Bar Associations (CCBA) has been an independent organization. Under an agreement with the State Bar, the CCBA has held the annual Conference in conjunction with the State Bar's annual meeting. This year started with a bit of controversy when we learned that the State Bar annual meeting was scheduled to be at a hotel whose owner gave $125,000 to Yes On Proposition 8. A survey of our delegates showed that at least 25% of them would not attend if we went to that hotel (the subject of boycott based on the contribution and labor issues), and we immediately started negotiating with the State Bar of California to be able to move the site of our conference and assure the continued viability of the organization and diversity of our constituency.

As we advised our delegation chairs and support staff last Friday evening, those negotiations were successful. The 2009 CCBA Conference of Delegates will convene at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, a lovely brand new hotel with space for the Conference itself, our delegations' breakfasts, lunches, receptions and other events, sleeping rooms and a great space for our 75th Anniversary Celebration. In the next couple of weeks we will be sending information about registering for the Conference, reserving rooms in our room block at the Hilton, joining us for the Gala Diamond Event and much, much more. This year's Conference promises to be among the most fun and successful in 75 years!

Bar Leader's Institute & Annual Pfeiffer Dinner

Before we get to the Conference, we have a special event that we are planning for our delegations in May, as we will combine our First Annual Bar Leader's Institute with our annual Pfeiffer Dinner. As we announced last September, at this year's Pfeiffer Dinner we are honoring Danette Meyers, current president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, former member of the Conference of Delegates Executive Committee, former chair of the LACBA Delegation, and well deserving recipient of the highest award bestowed by the Conference of California Bar Associations. Please join us on May 14, 2009 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Sponsorship and ticket information can be found here.

Our First Annual Bar Leader's Institute will be at the Omni Hotel during the afternoon of May 14, 2009. This event, which has been approved for 2 hours of MCLE credit from our generous sponsor, the MetNews, will feature a one-hour program on Elimination of Bias with Mia Yamamoto and a second hour on Media and Ethics with Roger Grace and Diane Karpman. We hope that every delegation will be able to send at least one representative to these programs. More information can be found here.

Other Items of Interest

In other news, don't forget that Resolution season is upon us. March 6 is the deadline for submitting your Resolutions. If you have questions about form or just want a reminder about the process, check the Guide for Proponents.

If you are interested in joining our Board, the Board Nominating Committee will be starting its deliberations soon, so please contact us. If the Board isn't where you feel you can make your best contribution, some of our committees will be looking for volunteers to work at this year’s conference. Just send an email to ExecDir@cdcba.org and we’ll find a place for you.

As always, if you can’t be a sponsor or come to the upcoming dinner, don’t think you’ll be able to actively participate in this year’s Conference or are just looking for a place to send a few extra dollars, the Conference welcomes your financial support.